Sunday, October 21, 2012

Halloween Bash...Robert Dunbar and the Season of the Witch

Robert Dunbar an incredibly unique voice in the horror genre shares his thoughts on Halloween

“Must be the season of the witch.”

~ Donavan Leitch

Wise up. It’s not about the candy corn.

Halloween is as political as a brick
through the windshield of a cop car.

We
have always been at war. First the Romans marched, then authoritarian religious
armies – pious and intolerant – slaughtered, burned, and assimilated in their footsteps.
What else could you call it but war?

Adherents
may have been tortured and maimed. Priestesses may have been put to the sword
and temples sacked. But the old beliefs won’t stay buried. Even now, they lurk
just beneath the sanitized, homogenized surface, ready to claw their way up.
Once a year, the prevailing culture acknowledges this fact … without ever
admitting what it is that’s being acknowledged.

Neat
trick. Never mind.

The
wild grace does not fade. Jack-o-lanterns
still burn as brightly as any heretic. Hags cackle, and skeletons cavort. But
don’t be afraid. It’s all in fun.

Isn’t
it? Listen for the cries of “Satanism!” According to so many sectors of the
community, this day represents a challenge, even an outrage. In many circles, Halloween is still referred to as “the gay
holiday,” and this alone offers effrontery to the status quo. Dissidents have perished
on the rack for less. Much less.

This
is not just war. It’s history.

And
which side writes the history books?

The
name Halloween is a corruption of All Hallows Eve, one of many calendar
events grafted onto pagan celebrations, in this case Samhain. (Doesn’t it always come down to power? Stealing the old
gods and turning them into saints and angels, even erecting shrines to them, has
proved to be an excellent means of establishing control.) Wiccans still consider
Samhain – the day when the spirit
world and the mortal world make contact – the highest of holy days. As
celebrated in the queer world, Halloween
becomes a transgressive festival: flagrantly unorthodox, a night of revels for
the most marginally accepted (and often brutally oppressed) citizens. All Hallows Eve leads into All Saints Day – a cattle call of mythological
personae, traditionally including figures like Saint Demetra and Saint
Mercurius, supposed martyrs adapted from the Roman gods Demeter and Mercury,
themselves based on the Greek gods Ceres and Hermes. This list includes Saint George
(and his dragon), Saint Christopher (a giant), and Saint Valentine (Cupid/Eros)
as well as celestial hosts of others, so
many in fact that early Protestant reformers could attack All Hallows Eve for being both Pagan and Papist. Another neat
trick.

Then
as now, propaganda and superstition remain potent weapons. Witches rarely
burned alone, and never because they possessed magical powers. (The very word
“faggot” refers to kindling.) However meager their possessions, every heretic
rendered to ash owned something to be
commandeered by church and state. If one sought true cause for outrage, one
need look no further.

And
the war never ends. Bats flap. Phantoms moan.

No,
it’s not about the candy corn. Everything is politics. It’s all about power. And
the battle is mostly fought with different
weapons now. (Voter suppression, anyone?) This Halloween take a stand, and do something revolutionary. Heave a
brick for all of us.

Just
be sure to wear a mask.

ROBERT DUNBAR is the author of the novels THE PINES and THE SHORE and WILLY, the novella WOOD and the short story collection MARTYRS & MONSTERS. He was also the editor for the anthology SHADOWS, SUPERNATURAL TALES BY MASTERS OF MODERN LITERATURE. Dunbar's books have been extremely well-received by the critics, and he's been called "the catalyst for the new literary movement in horror." Yet dark literature has only recently become the principal focus of Dunbar's career. Both his mainstream fiction and his poetry have appeared in respected literary journals, and several of his plays have been produced. Dunbar has also written for television and has appeared as a guest on a variety of programs. For more information, visit his site at www.DunbarAuthor.com.

"Literary and atmospheric ... be prepared to be entertained."~ Horror World

WOOD

"Literary horror at its best."~ LAYERS OF THOUGHT

"Mesmerizing ... unnerving."~ LITERARY MAYHEM

"A dark literary masterpiece."~ FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND

"Honest-to-God terrifying."~ HORROR WORLD

~In Wood Robert Dunabr has creates an eerie setting that you can almost reach out and touch populated by well-constructed characters and events.While the creature reveal didn’t work for me personally I would still recommend this novella.